Bleach: Links (Prologue)
by Hazel Madoku
Summary: Prologue: a young girl once a resident in the world of the living, crosses problems beyond her wildest dreams. Forced to go on adventures she never would have thought of. As she discovered her new found abilities, she begins to question the events that happened in her past.


Darkness loomed over the world of the living. The city streets full of unsuspecting people, and weary soul reapers who remained on guard. Music filled the air as a festival went on. Lights dancing around the sky as the wind blew paper lanterns gracefully. Eventually the wind tickled the back of a head of a man wih messy raven black hair that stood up slightly. He stood tall and brave, while holding the hand of a small girl that barely reached his knees.

"Big Brother… I can't see…" The young girl whined while looking up, her ice blue eyes meeting his as her long black hair flowed behind her reaching the center of her back. Two purple clips forced her hair to stay behind her ears. She wore a black kimono decorated with flowers that had several different shades of purple. Her sandals clicked along the ground with every stop. Her hand tugged at the bottom of her black kimono.

Kaizen raised a brow at his younger sister's actions, finding it difficult to not smile at the innocence in her eyes. He took graceful moves as he lifted her up on to her shoulders. The strong smell of hair gel filling her nose, mixing in with the scent of different types of food. The smell alone could annoy any girl, but to her the smell of her brothers hair ment security.

"There you go Hazel. Now you're taller than any one here." Kaizen's voice remained enthusiastic, happy to hear the innocent giggle that escaped her lips. Her small fingers tangling themselves in his thick head of hair.

Hearing a small giggle from a few feet behind him, Ukitake turned around. It took him a moment to register who it was he heard; the voice didn't exactly match the face he saw. "Ah, Kaizen, I didn't know that you were here…" he didn't notice the tiny legs draped over his shoulders until after he had started talking. He looked up and smiled, reaching into his pocket for a brief moment. "It looks like Hazel hit a growth spurt. You've gotten kind of tall, haven't you? Are you two enjoying the festival so far?"

"Of course we would be here… this festival is in our neighborhood. I have to spend some quality time with my favorite little sister." He said. Hazel looking to Ukitake excitedly holding her hands out towards him. "Uncle Ukitake~" she said giggling as Kaizen moved her around until she was hanging upside down kissing her cheek. "She's the cutest thing this world has to offer~" He said excitedly.

"I never would have expected to see one of my squad members acting the way you do… I could be adjusted to the way you act when you're sister is with you." A deep voice said it leading to a male with long black hair. It was none other than captain Kuchiki himself.

Kaizen took a moment to observe the group. "It appears something is going on tonight. Should I be worried?" he asked moving Hazel so that she was sitting on his hip.

"Understandable." Ukitake smiled, hearing the voice from behind them. "Somethi-" he cut himself off to listen- not to the baritone voice produced a moment ago, but to something else in the distance. He focused on it, but it sounded like it was barely there when it came back up. "Did any of you hear that just now?" he asked.

Kaizen tensed up as he heard the faint roar of a Hollow. "A Hollow…" he said looking over as Kyoraku dropped down.

"They have spotted a Hollow coming this way." he said watching as Byakuya drew his Zanpaktou. Kaizen placing Hazel on her feet and moving over to the alleyway.

"Stay Here." he ordered while moving out of his Gigai blinking as she grabbed his pants leg.

"Nooo..." she whined. He then looked to Ukitake aware of how stubborn Hazel could be when he tried to walk away.

"Go… I will take her." Urahara stated as he turned the corner to pick Hazel up.

"Don't worry… Your brother will be fine…" He assured watching as she squirmed in his arms, crying loudly until Kaizen rubbed her cheek.

"I will be right back Hazel-chan…" He said before looking to Ukitake to lead the way where the other two captains had gone.

Ukitake, feeling bad for Kaizen having to leave Hazel there, patted her head before heading off to go fight the Hollow with the others. "This way." he said, running ahead of Kaizen in the same direction as the others. He looked around, keeping an eye on things, before he eventually caught up with the others. "I didn't see anything else." he said, looking towards Byakuya. "How are things holding up here?"

Toshiro, who had since joined the fight, turned his head briefly to get a look at who was talking before going back to paying attention to the commotion. "We've barely started, how the hell do you think it's going?" he asked bluntly. "And what took you so long?" Ukitake waved him off. "Kaizen had to secure someone, that's all."

"I was out with my sister when I noticed you and the others near by. Decided to come help…" Kaizen stated while placing a hand on his sword. Byakuya sighed as he observed the their surroundings.

"I allowed him to come back for the night to take care of his sister." He explained darting forward along side Kaizen to move in towards the fight. Kyoraku took in a deep breath.

"Get ready… More Hollow's are coming… right now Urahara is taking care of Hazel…. he always comes to the aid when we need him doesn't he?" He said with a smirk while drawing out his zanpaktou.

Kaizen stood back to back with his captain feeling the massive surge of power as more Hollows rushed towards them. He held his ground taking in a deep breath. "Let's go…" he said his attitude having switched from playful, to fully focused; Something Byakuya had grown use to. He then ran forward quickly. "Burn them with your flames! Chromen!" He yelled. Byakuya eyed the group of hollows and closed his eyes as well. "Scatter! Senbonzakura!" he stated watching as a mixture of flames and flower petals rushed towards a group of Hollows. the petals cutting several of their masks, while the flames helped burn them.

"Do you know how many there are?" Ukitake asked, looking around. "Too many." Toshiro answered, gripping his zanpaktou with both hands. "Well. Get to it." he hissed. Ukitake sighed.

"All work and no play." Kyoraku stated as he darted forward to strike.

"Rain of the Frosted heavens. HYOURINMARU!" Toshiro yelled as he darted towards the large among of hollows.

Kaizen sighed as he darted from hollow to hollow slaying them one by one. 'This is getting difficult, more and more are appearing… and I know what they are after...' he thought while looking to Byakuya.

"Captain… Take care of my sister… No matter what happens.." Kaizen said with a smile. watching Byakuya's eyes falling on him, following his movements as he darted into the large group. There was no fear in his eyes as he did so, moving with quick movements to slash through each one.

Hazel blinked as she listened to the sounds of battle in the distance feeling uneasy about everything that was going on. "Kaizen!" she yelled jumping out of Urahara's arms and running in the direction he had gone.

"Hazel Come Back!" Urahara yelled chasing after the young girl, surprised by how quick she moved.

Byakuya glared as he fought alongside the others. "Kaizen." he said looking around trying to find him amongst the group of roaring beasts. After a while every hollow had been slain, and Kaizen sat on his knees tiredly. His eyes moving up to see Hazel running towards him with teary eyes.

"Big Brother!" she screamed moving to run into his arms. Unaware that their job had not yet been finished.

Ukitake slouched for a second, trying to catch his breath. "I wasn't expecting that many." Toshiro sighed angrily, before turning quickly as he heard Hazel screaming for her brother. "Hey, hang on a second, let Kaizen rest for a minute." Toshio yelled to her, from quite a bit away.

As soon as his chest stopped burning, Ukitake shook his head. "I don't think Hazel going to him would change much. She's worried about him, just let her go. We can get her back if anything goes wrong."

Kyoraku watched for a second before darting forward and picking her up as a larger hollow appeared. Hazel screaming as it crashed down between the two. It roared loudly before charging to Kaizen who stood up to fight back, only to have his chest slashed at, Kyoraku quickly pushing Hazel's head down into his shoulder. Watching Byakuya move forward to strike, wincing as Hazel let out a loud scream when watching the hollow strike her brother. It's leg crashing down on the young reaper just as Byakuya hit it's bleach white mask. Letting it disappear before looking around for Kaizen, who was no where to be seen.

The entire spectacle happened too quickly for Ukitake to process it right away. All he could see was that Kaizen was there one second, and gone the next. As if by instinct, he sprinted over to Hazel and attempted to keep her as calm as possible. "Hazel…? Are you alright?" he asked, patting her back a little bit. Toshiro looked to Byakuya is disbelief. "Did that really just happen?!"

Kyoraku held Hazel tightly feeling her body shake. "where… Where did big brother go?" she asked with tear filled eyes. Byakuya observed the area carefully, before looking to Toshiro.

"... I don't sense him…" he said turning his head towards Hazel as she started to cry. "then what do you suggest we do?" Kyoraku asked as she clung to his neck sobbing loudly.

"... We take her back to the soul society… If Kaizen was here.. we would sense his spirit energy. he's not the type to give up… especially with his sister out here without him…." he explained watching as Urahara ran into the area. panting to catch his breath.

"the little squirt moves so quickly…" He said, stiffening when observing the situation. "... it appears I have missed something…"

Toshiro looked around. "Yeah. You missed something big." Ukitake didn't turn his attention from Hazel, but he nodded. "And Hazel saw everything. We were just talking about what we needed to do to take care of her. Apparently we're taking her back to the soul society." "That's probably the best thing to do right now. I really don't think we have any other options." Toshiro sighed.

"Then let's get moving… More hollows will appear if we stand around." Byakuya said while moving to open a gate. Urahara sighed. "I will call for squad 4's captain to meet you there so that she can give Hazel a look…just incase she got hurt." Urahara said before turning to walk off.

Hazel frowned as she reached for Ukitake. Kyoraku willingly offering her to him. "You've always been better at getting her to calm down." he said beginning to walk through the gate following behind Byakuya.

Toshiro nodded, following closely behind Byakuya. "That would be the best course of action." he said, keeping an eye out for more Hollows, in case they decided to show up. Ukitake picked Hazel up and patted her back. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Hazel clung to him and whimpered childishly. "I want big brother…" Her voice quivered as she said this. Her small fingers refusing to let his captains coat go. "Bring big brother back…" Byakuya listened to her pleas, fully aware that they could not do anything to bring her brother back. He stepped into the soul society and waited for everyone else to follow suit. Captain Kyoraku looked to him, and then to Hazel. He wasn't sure what they would do with Hazel from now on. Kaizen, her guardian was no longer with them she was all alone.

Byakuya took in a deep breath as he remembered his promise to Kaizen. "I will be taking care of Hazel… Kaizen was a member of my squad… so it is my responsibility to take care of her." He explained, aware that it would take some time getting use to. He was not use to the thought of having a kid in the Kuchiki house. The thought was strange to him. Hazel was a smart kid though, so taking care of her should not be that hard. He couldn't replace the love and affection Kaizen gave her, but he knew some of the other captains would take that role for him when the time came.

"I'm sorry, Hazel...we can't do that." Ukitake said quietly, as he stepped through the gate behind everyone else. "It might not mean much to you now, but Captain Kuchiki here will take care of you, alright? He won't let anything happen to you." Toshiro looked at Byakuya. "Yeah, Ukitake's here if you need help taking care of her at all. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind lending you a hand every once in a while, either."

"They would be glad to help…" Kyoraku said. "Plus each of us know how rambunctious Hazel can be…" he said listening to Hazel's sobs. "Why don't we get her settled into the Kuchiki house… she has been through a lot." he said watching as Byakuya nodded. "I believe that would be the best idea." he agreed moving to take her from Ukitake's arms. she wrapped her arms around Ukitake's neck and trembled.

"The sooner the better." Toshiro said. "It'll probably take her a while to get used to living with you." Ukitake attempted to hand Hazel over to Byakuya, and frowned a little bit when she clung to him. "Hazel, do you want me to carry you until we get there?" he asked, before looking at Byakuya again. "If you don't mind me doing so, of course."

"Not at all… it's best to make her as comfortable as possible."


End file.
